Monthly Archives: February 2014

Two economic capital cities in West Africa have embarked on remarkable physical development initiatives aimed at supporting their rapid growth. Traversed by water bodies, Lagos in Nigeria and Abidjan in the Ivory Coast are experiencing an escalation in population density as well as vehicular movement between metropolitan settlements separated by the sea. While the Ebire Lagoon divides the residential Riviera ...

The idea of sustainable development has formed the basis of the Green Economy, which looks outward from land to the ocean space as a limitless horizon with unending resources. The Blue Economy, on the other hand, views a sustainable ocean economy as an integral part of the Green Economy. Alison Borgess, founder of the International Ocean Institute, sums up this ...

A prototype floating school in Lagos has been nominated for the Designs of the Year prize 2014. The Floating School in Makoko, a poverty-stricken coastal community in Lagos, Nigeria, is the pilot project in a planned water-top development that could transform the deprived area. Completed in about five months, the solar-powered building has three storeys – a recreation area, an enclosed ...

Our planet is fast heating up by the burning of fossil fuels with several tons of carbon pollutants entering the atmosphere everyday through landfills, transportation (traffic), power plants, forest burning, oil exploration & production, fertilizer application, industrialised agriculture, and coal/mining plants, to mention a few. Carbon pollution is disrupting our lives daily and destroying the earth. How long will we ...

Abdulahi Traore, a fisherman, scouts the Ebire Lagoon that windless December morning, a forlorn look on his aging face. It’s about 10am in the morning as he guides the canoe past a body of seaweed, overlooking the imposing Hotel Ivoire, believed to be the biggest five-star hotel in the country. He says he has been out fishing since 6.30am and ...

Following the recent launch of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC), Ministers for Land and Urban Development in Africa will address the issue of housing finance on the continent as they gather from Tuesday February 25 to Friday 28, 2014 in N’djamena, the Chadian capital, at the fifth session of the African Ministerial Council on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD). ...

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State last week signed a bill banning smoking in public places in the state into law. By implication, nobody can smoke in public places anymore as offenders would be made to pay fine or go to jail. The House of Assembly had recently passed a bill banning smoking in public places and placed fine of ...

Ecotourism defined in general terms is travelling responsibly to places that promote conservation of the environment and protection of natural habitats. Ecotourism is a global fast growth area of tourism which is growing at a rate of more than 20% annually – more than twice the average growth of the entire global tourism industry. “Sustainable tourism has proven to be ...

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has said that the cause of the Ijegun oil spill in Lagos is yet to be determined as the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) had not been carried out. Director-General NOSDRA, Peter Idabor, said currently the agency was chiselling the concrete encasing of the busted pipeline to determine extent and cause of ...